Hackings, Weddings, and Becoming Frugal

It’s been a very hectic, chaotic, but eye-opening last two weeks.

I was hacked. Specifically, this blog and all our other sites were hacked.

I attended a wedding that brought back happy & stressful memories from my own wedding 5 years ago.

And, we realized that we need to become a bit more frugal (to use the fancy term for cheap) in our daily lives, especially with the holiday season being around the corner. Or already here if you ask our local mall who already had Santa set-up for pictures!

Who are the idiots anyway who get together in the big boardroom once a year to conspire against us parents and decide that they’re going to start Christmas in the stores before Halloween is even over? I’d like to give them a nice smack on the head.

Oops. Ignore that full-on rant and let’s get back to where we were. Ahhh…yes.

Hackings

Though I see no real purpose and have no clue where it came from (maybe I offended someone?), our sites were hacked a little over two weeks ago. Well, that’s when we noticed it, but it might have been longer. It seems a Trojan was on one of the various computers we use to access our sites and apparently got our hosting FTP information.

Lessons Learned?

1. Be sure to upgrade WordPress when a new version comes out (if using WordPress as your blogging platform).
2. Run a virus scan periodically even if you have your anti-virus software set to auto-detect (which we did).
3. At the first sign that something’s not right (i.e., you can’t login to your blog’s admin panel), check it all out to prevent hack from spreading.
4. Search WordPress Codex for useful information on fixing the issue. Also use twitter! There are some great (and knowledgeable) folks on there that are willing to help.

Weddings

As if weddings aren’t stressful enough by nature, it doesn’t help to add on to the stress by not planning certain things in advance. Or, thinking you’ll have enough time the night before or morning of.

I planned my own wedding, but I had a lot of help from my mom. She gave guidance as to what things I needed to plan, reserve, and think about in general. In a sense, she was my own personal wedding coordinator, if you will.

Now, I know that wedding planners/coordinators can be pricey, but if you’re the type of person that either doesn’t know much about what’s involved/needed, or doesn’t really want to deal with it, then one should at least be considered.

Becoming Frugal

It’s never a good feeling to balance your checkbook and find that you didn’t have as much money as you thought you had. That’s not to say you’re in the poor-house, but more like you can’t account for money spent. You’re just not sure where it all went.

With the economy the way it is and budgets being cut all across various organizations, schools, etc., and with the holiday season coming up, it’s definitely a good time to step back and think about spending less.

My husband and I have made a non-formal commitment to each other to watch our spending more closely. We’ve started this week already by taking our own lunches to work. I’m going to look at my own advice to get some ideas for what to pack.

So, there you have it. A very quick recap of the past two weeks.

Now, what have I missed on your end?